Vice President Criticizes Federal Cannabis Restrictions During White House Weed Event

Vice President Kamala Harris called the current classification of marijuana under federal law "absurd" during a White House event on Friday, and said she is looking forward to seeing what the Drug Enforcement Administration decides about moving it to a different category.

"I'm sure DEA is working as quickly as possible and will continue to do so, and we look forward to the product of their work," Harris said at the beginning of a roundtable discussion on cannabis policy with Gov. Andy Beshear (D-Ky.), a handful of people who received pardons from President Joe Biden for low level cannabis offenses and rapper Fat Joe.

The vice president's comments came as anticipation builds for the DEA to release its final decision on the Department of Health and Human Services' recommendation to move marijuana — or cannabis with more than 0.3 percent THC — to a less restrictive schedule under the Controlled Substances Act. Marijuana is currently classified as a Schedule I narcotic — the same as LSD and heroin — which means it's deemed to have no acceptable medical uses and a high propensity for abuse.

The White House event is the latest sign that the Biden administration plans to tout its efforts to overhaul federal marijuana policies ahead of the presidential election. Biden also cited his moves to pardon federal marijuana offenders and loosen federal weed restrictions during last week's State of the Union address. A whopping 70 percent of Americans back marijuana legalization, and that position is particularly popular with young voters, a crucial demographic that Biden is struggling to maintain support from.

Biden issued two executive orders in October 2022 pardoning people with certain nonviolent federal marijuana offenses and instructing HHS to assess if marijuana should be reclassified within the federal list of controlled substances. In late 2023, HHS sent a letter to the Department of Justice recommending that cannabis be moved to a less restrictive category, but the nation is still awaiting the DOJ's final decision.

Biden expanded his pardon declaration in December, allowing more people to receive relief — a population that Harris on Friday numbered in the "tens of thousands."